Overview
The crafting of Aleppo ghar soap in the Syrian Arab Republic is based on traditional knowledge and skills that combine natural, locally produced olive oil (metraf) and laurel oil (ghar). In autumn, families pick the wild laurel berries from surrounding forests and boil them in water until they split. When the oil rises to the surface, it is skimmed off. The soap production begins in winter. Natural lye, metraf and ghar are combined and cooked. The mixture is poured on the floors of traditional soap factories and allowed to cool. Craftsmen then don large wooden shoes to cut the giant slab into cubes, using their body weight and a rake. Each cube is hand-stamped with the family name in an expression of family legacy and identity. The stamped soap cubes are stacked into cylindrical towers or pyramids to facilitate airflow and are stored to dry for six to nine months. Aleppo craftsmanship...
This record is imported from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage public dataset as discovery metadata. ARED has not independently verified community authority, access protocols or local naming beyond the source record.
Community and Authority
- Communities
- Syrian Arab Republic
- Languages
- Not specified in UNESCO dataset
- Cultural territories
- Syrian Arab Republic
- Countries
- Syrian Arab Republic
How the System Works
The crafting of Aleppo ghar soap in the Syrian Arab Republic is based on traditional knowledge and skills that combine natural, locally produced olive oil (metraf) and laurel oil (ghar). In autumn, families pick the wild laurel berries from surrounding forests and boil them in water until they split. When the oil rises to the surface,...
Sources and Evidence
Imported from UNESCO DataHub dataset ich001. Field-level provenance is retained in the record metadata.
Field-Level Provenance
- title
- UNESCO DataHub field title_en
- preferredTitle
- UNESCO DataHub field title_fr
- summary
- UNESCO DataHub field description_en
- type
- UNESCO DataHub fields type_of_element_en and type_acronym
- countries
- UNESCO DataHub field countries, ISO codes resolved with ISO-3166 regional metadata
- categories
- ARED category inference from UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names and title
- relationships
- UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names, type fields and World Heritage links
- sourceUrl
- UNESCO DataHub field http_url_en
- rights
- UNESCO DataHub dataset metadata license and license_url
Original Source Metadata
Why This Record Is Credible
This public record is connected to 1 source and has been labelled Source Supported. ARED separates evidence sources from cultural authority so users can see both provenance and review limits.
Cultural Access
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Relationships
Review and Corrections
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